Over the years, I’ve made use of many different tools, technologies, and techniques to aid in my writing–and in my completion of NaNoWriMos past. Given that November is fast approaching, I thought it might be fun to put together a list (also, I just couldn’t resist the title of this post) of some of the ones that have helped me most. So, here they are (in no particular order): Continue reading →

photo by vonslatt (linked to original) under a (cc) non-commercial no derivs license.

I mean, obviously, the basic aesthetic is delicious.

Part of this is shaped by the infinite ways in which the pollution from the coal fires of industry settled into a patina of detailing: gorgeous grunge, edging the cogs, wheels and rivets. There’s also an appreciation of the useful items–the cogs, wheels, and rivets–outside of the context of their usefulness, as aesthetic objects in themselves. Still another part of it is the tweeds, the silks, and the cottons in richly muted shades, combined with the stylized figures of men in top hats and tailored suits, and corseted, bustled women.

There’s also the might-have-beens of steampunk. The anachronistic technologies, placed in the context of the age of science, reason, optimisim, and hope–which was simultaneously the age of imperialism, oppression, elitism, and racisim–creates a plethora of new and fascinating alternate histories to explore and inhabit.

But another, significant part of the appeal of steampunk is that of permanence. In a world of mass-produced, assembly lined, injection-moulded products, the process of steampunking transforms them into something hand-crafted, beautiful, for the ages. Steampunk speaks to that desire for the special, the unique, the heirloom, in the midst of our culture of disposable everythings.

Some of you may already be committed to doing NaNo this year. Others may be feeling a little more tentative and not quite ready to take the plunge. I say–do it. Dip a toe in, or jump headlong into the deep end. Even if you don’t get to the end, it’s a really fun and challenging experience!

Many people plunge into NaNo with no intention of ever showing people what they’ve written. It’s for themselves, to be able to say they did it. Or it might be to experience the joy and exhilaration of the creative flow that comes when everything starts coming together. This range of motivations is part of what makes NaNoWriMo so great.

As for me, I like to look at NaNo, not just as an opportunity to write frenziedly and try to get as many words in as possible–I like to see it as a way to get a workable, preliminary draft of something that I can develop at some future point into a finished product. Last year, I got up to about 65K, and then had to stop because school was getting too busy.

There are, of course, all the usual tips for those who fear they won’t make it (spelling out numbers, etc.). I’m ambivalent about a lot of those, as I have to just go back and standardize them later or change them as needed to make the mss usable. I generally ignore those “word count plumping” strategies. Make use of them if you feel you need to, but if you’re thinking you might someday edit what you’ve written into something for wider consumption, then remember that they will ultimately be one more barrier to the process of getting the work cleaned up. And since I hate cleaning up (*sigh* I really do. Just ask my husband!), I’d rather minimize the initial untidiness wherever possible.

Wow–a busy few months! Not only has school started up again (final year! w00t! Though in truth, I love studying, and am actually a little sad to see the end of it.), but I had ambitious plans to try to release 1-2 of my queued up, forthcoming titles.

So, what are some of the great things that have happened these past two months?

Over the course of a great chat about NaNoWriMo and all manner of other things, @jenkmiller and I hatched up a fabulous plot: an author interview, book review and a draw, for an e-book copy of An Immodest Proposal. Seriously: how win-win-win can you get?

And, in an example of Convergence (with a capital “c”), I also just finalized a new cover for the novel, by the same cover designer who did such a lovely job with The Clarendon Rose. So, the new cover made its debut on Jen’s gorgeous blog this morning!

In addition, as a thank you for taking the time to stop by and enter the contest, all entrants who leave their electronic contact information (e.g. email, twitter) along with their comment will receive a 15% off discount code, good for one download of An Immodest Proposal on Smashwords (note: the discount code is per entrant, not per entry). Contest closes on November 3, 2011. Full details are available on Jen’s blog.

These past couple of months, the slow, slow sales have comprised the backdrop to rising doubts on my part about my chosen course of self-publishing.

The novels I have up there haven’t been selling much at all–maybe a copy or two a week–while the new anthology that I launched last week has sold exactly one copy (to a friend, who very kindly downloaded a copy shortly after the launch! :-D). Of course, there are mitigating circumstances.

I am giving away the first novella in the collection. I had 60 downloads of that in the first week. So, many people who downloaded it might not yet have read the novella–and in particular, those who actually like it enough to want to download the full, paid anthology. So even with the free download, it might not have found its audience as yet.

And yes, there are a number of additional factors that no doubt go into this. But I cannot help but wonder whether the recent changes at Amazon have just pushed the books out of visibility.

Naturally, there are things I can do to get myself out there. I’ve done a few interviews and hope to do more going forward, but I always wonder how much impact those have. How much of my as-yet undiscovered audience (who will require some convincing that they are my audience in the first place) are likely to find me? Of course, the more places that I am, and the greater number of websites where I have a presence, will mean that there’s a greater chance my audience will find me! But will they?!

These past, slow weeks have made me wonder whether the traditional publishing route is the best one to take after all.

The best metaphor I can think of, at least off the top of my head, is that we’re clustered at the edge of a cliff, during an earthquake. The leading edge of the cliff’s underside is eroded, and the cracks are starting to show, in the ground beneath our feet.

This is the publishing industry.

Those who cling, not just to print itself, but more importantly, to the business models that arose out of exploiting the efficiencies of print–contracts and pricing based on overhead, printing costs, distribution, etc.–are at the edge of that cliff. The seismic shift in the industry is going to crumble the ground right out from under them–is going to, and is presently doing just that. Continue reading →

Or at least, it’s LIVE. As in, my anthology of five collected stories, Persephone’s Library and Other Short Stories is now available for purchase at Smashwords and Amazon. Pending approval, it will also be available at ibooks, BN and all the other retail distribution channels that the smashing Smashwords partners with.

The stories in the collection are set in bleak and futuristic landscapes. A couple of them contain psi- elements, while others are just about characters striving to live their lives and rebuild their realities in worlds where society as we know it has become un-integrated from itself. There are no flashy or dramatic apocalypses–intead, the stories are about changed, ravaged and fatigued civilizations, societies that have fallen apart, and the characters living within them, trying to find their own meaning and balance.

While several of the stories are pessimistic, others are hopeful, themed around the idea that life goes on, and that we can find hope even in dark times, even after much is lost. Sometimes, it’s just about finding something to believe in enough to make life worth living.

My idea in doing the giveaway is to give you an idea of how I deal with character, story arc, pacing and plot. You can also see whether you feel the resolution is appropriate to the narrative. This strikes me as fair–this way, you know what you’re getting.

And if you like it, then for the price of a latte, you can buy four more stories by yours truly, grouped around similar themes (and in some cases set in the very same world), in Persephone’s Library.

As well, if you enjoyed the free download, please feel free to pass it along to friends or to send them to the Smashwords page to download their own copies. I just ask that if you pass along the file, that you send it in its entirety (so with all the attributions, the copyright notices, the little note at the back by me, promising good karma if you buy the anthology etc.). Also, please do not sell it, commercialize it in any way, or create any derivative works without contacting me to seek permission.

That’s about it! I hope you will check it out–and that you will enjoy!

I remember reading one of Stephen R. Donaldson’s author’s notes many years ago, in which he talked about his writing methods and his ways of doing things. He spoke of how he’d often have a good idea here, and a good idea there–but they’d both just sit around, inert, doing little. But then, sometimes, he’d end up combining them–one discrete idea with another–and suddenly the pairing would come to life, start flowing and forming into a novel, or indeed, even a series (I vaguely remember that the actual word he used was “gusher”).

Over the years, I’ve realised that I’m actually the same way. I’ll have random ideas all the time, but any given idea will never quite come to life until it ends up being combined with some other idea of mine. Put’em together and voila! you have self-replicating cells. Life. A story–embryonic at first but rapidly growing, filling out, and developing, until it’s ready to be written.

Given that, I’m always looking for inspiration. Ideas, that I can try out in combination with other ideas, until something connects, and the magic happens. Over the past days, I’ve been searching for such inspirations and sources–and when I’ve found promising pieces, I’ve been tweeting them. I’ve decided to compile some of the tweeted links here each week (or so), as a kind of digest of writing prompts, ideas for composition, and images that might get your (or my) creative juices flowing. Continue reading →

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I’ve tried a couple of different apps whose purpose of existence is to alert users to the existence of other apps that are temporarily discounted or free. So far, the standout for me is Apps Gone Free. I’m not a … Continue reading →

A while back, I did a side-by-side review of the in-app dictation software in the more recent iOS versions and the free Dragon dictation app. The in-app software won (sad though I am to admit it, as I do love … Continue reading →

Looking back through my old posts, I was simultaneously astonished and chagrined that I had not yet written anything about Goodreader. It was one of my early purchases on the iPad and has been one of my top, go-to apps … Continue reading →

I’m a productivity junkie. Modern life, with all its devices, information and demands means that if you’ve got your fingers in more than one pie (and most of us do) we can’t afford to waste a moment–and that if we’re … Continue reading →